Recipes

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add flour, sugar, and cocoa; mix just until combined. (Chill dough in the refrigerator 10 minutes if it is too soft to handle.) Pat dough into an 8-inch round cake pan or 8-inch square pan; press edges down with the tines of a floured fork. Bake until firm, 30 minutes. Immediately cut into 8 wedges or 8 squares. Take out of pan; serve immediately or wait until cool and decorate.

NOTES: I’ve also used GF flour with this recipe; it turned out amazing. I like to use Dutch-processed cocoa with this recipe as I like the intense color and flavor. I’ve used this recipe for so many years I can’t remember where it came from.

For the shortbread crust:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. With an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add flour, sugar, and cocoa; mix just until combined. (Chill dough in the refrigerator 10 minutes if it is too soft to handle.) Pat dough into a 13-inch by 9-inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool 7 minutes.

Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. When shortbread has cooled slightly, sprinkle evenly with the semisweet chocolate chips. Arrange the marshmallows evenly on top of the chips. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top. Sprinkle the white chips evenly on top. Sprinkle the crispy rice cereal on top of the chips. Sprinkle the milk chocolate chips on top, followed by the remaining marshmallows. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan. When the bars reach room temperature, cut them into pieces. Leave the bars in the pan until you plan to eat/serve them. You can refrigerate the bars in the pan to firm them up.

NOTES: If you refrigerate the bars without cutting them first, they will be very difficult to cut.

Stir together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, and baking soda. Add the mashed bananas and mix thoroughly. Mix in the flour and then the nuts. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the chilled dough into walnut-sized balls (I use a cookie scoop.). Place the dough balls on a greased cookie sheet. Press them down just a little so they don’t roll off. Return the bowl to the refrigerator and let it chill until time to roll/scoop more cookies.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until light golden. Cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack.

NOTE: You have to keep this dough CHILLED; if you don’t keep it chilled the cookies spread out too much and end up burning. If you’re like me and prefer to roll out two or three cookie sheets at a time, place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator until the first pan comes out of the oven.

Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the confectioners’ sugar and one-half cup granulated sugar to the melted butter and mix. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. After the mixture reaches room temperature, stir in the egg. Add the orange extract, orange zest, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well. Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition. Chill the dough at least one hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Pinch off bits of dough and roll them into one-inch balls. Roll the balls in a bowl containing one-fourth cup granulated sugar. Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a sheet. Flatten the balls with the palm of your hand. Bake at 325 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes, until light golden on top. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.

NOTES: I line my baking sheets with parchment paper. These taste like orange flavored sugar cookies. In the batch I’m testing now with gluten-free flour, I’ll be drizzling the tops with an orange glaze.

Melt the butter and add the granulated sugar. Then add the eggs and the strawberry jam; mix well. When the jam is fully incorporated, add the extract, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in the chopped pecans and flour.

Roll dough balls with your hands about the size of unshelled walnuts. If the dough is too sticky, chill it for about twenty or thirty minutes. Roll the dough balls in confectioner’s sugar and place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 per sheet. Make a deep thumbprint in the center of each cookie.

While the strawberries are still partially frozen, cut them in half lengthwise. Place a strawberry half, cut side down, in each of the thumbprints in the cookies.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Dust the cookies with confectioner’s sugar before serving.

NOTES: I added a bit of red food coloring to make the cookies really appear strawberry-colored. You can substitute fresh strawberries for the frozen.